


Strawberries and Coal Dust

by HawthorneWhisperer



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 11:07:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 12,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4917241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawthorneWhisperer/pseuds/HawthorneWhisperer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of gadge drabbles.  Probably smutty, knowing me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Shirt

**Author's Note:**

> From the anonymous prompt. "Good morning, hope you don't mind me wearing your shirt."

Gale didn’t look up when Katniss’s door opened and kept scrolling through his facebook page, mindlessly downing his second bowl of cereal.

 

Someone’s throat clearing got his attention though, because it didn’t sound at all like Katniss.  And it wasn’t, because the blonde wearing nothing but an old flannel shirt of his was definitely, 100% not-Katniss.  His spoon clattered into his bowl before he got ahold of himself.

 

“Morning,” the blonde said cheerily.  “Hope you don’t mind me borrowing your shirt.”

 

“Not at all,” he replied around a mouthful of cheerios.  He sort of had a reputation with his friends, but it was a lot easier to be charming when you’re at a bar than sitting at your kitchen table in old basketball shorts and a ratty old t-shirt from high school.  “And you are…?”

 

“Madge.  Katniss’ friend-slash-coworker.”

 

“I’m Gale,” he said, extending his hand for her to shake.

 

“I figured as much.”  She started opening cupboards, like it was totally normal for her to be in his kitchen, wearing nothing but a shirt that barely covered the top of her thighs.  He was staring, because seriously, _what the fuck_?  Madge located a cereal bowl and poured one for herself.  “So I’m guessing you didn’t know I was here?”

 

Gale shook his head, trying valiantly to keep his eyes north of the miles of legs she was displaying as she opened his fridge.

 

“Right.  Well, Katniss got a promotion this week.  Which I’m assuming you know?”  At his nod, she kept going.  “So anyway, we went out to celebrate last night and she got a little overconfident in how much she could drink, so I brought her back here to make sure she got home safely.”  Madge slid into the chair opposite him, mercifully hiding her legs.  “But she threw up all over me on our way here and I didn’t want to leave her alone last night, which necessitated changing.”  She munched on her cereal while Gale watched, still a little blown away by how pretty she was.  “But as you’ve probably noticed, Katniss is like, the size of one of my thighs, so it was either sleep naked, in vomitty clothes, or in this flannel shirt you so thoughtfully left lying on the couch.”

 

“Right,” he said, because she seemed to expect some response.  Mostly he felt like he needed several cups of coffee to make sure he was awake and this wasn’t the beginning of a really fantastic dream.

 

“So I’m thinking she’ll probably spend the day sleeping it off and I’ll get going once my clothes are out of your dryer.”  She smiled brightly at him and damn he was fucked.  “So are you going to offer me some coffee, or do I have to get it myself?”

 

“That depends.  You going to be keeping my shirt, or will I get it back?” Gale grinned, and if the blush staining her cheeks was any indication, he’d finally found his footing.

 

“If you play your cards right, I won’t have to give it back,” she said with a sultry smile, and Gale made a mental note to thank Katniss for being the world’s biggest lightweight.

  
  



	2. One Last Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the anonymous prompt: It’s time to fight the boss and if I don’t tell you now, I might not live to tell you.

When Gale got the word that Squad 451 was being sent to the Capitol, he first went to the compartment assigned to his family to let them know.  His mother took the news stoically and Rory nodded with a clenched jaw, but Vick’s chin wobbled dangerously and Posy broke down in tears.

Once he’d extricated himself from them, he went to the Everdeen compartment to give Prim and her mother a hug, since they were the closest thing to an extended family he had anymore.  Thom had left already, sent to the front lines weeks before, so he had just one more goodbye–the only other person in this godforsaken mineshaft they called a district who might give a damn if he didn’t come back.

One other person, and she wasn’t even awake.  

The doctors in Thirteen had told him Madge might never wake up when he carried her in the day Thirteen’s hovercrafts had appeared out of nowhere.  She was conscious when Thom found her, trapped under a pile of rubble a few feet from what remained of the mayor’s mansion but by the time Thom and Bristel had carried her back to their makeshift camp she’d slipped into unconsciousness.  Mrs. Everdeen had dribbled water mixed with what herbs she could find down Madge’s throat, but with so many burned and crushed from the bombs there wasn’t much time for Mrs. Everdeen to take care of a girl who probably wouldn’t make it.

Still, he went to visit her every day, no matter how futile it seemed.  “It’s not like she can hear you,” Johanna was fond of sneering whenever Gale slipped quietly into med bay to tell Madge about his day.  And maybe it was pointless, but he’d gotten used to talking to her when Katniss left, to her quiet smiles and how she understood him in a way a girl from town shouldn’t have been able to.

So he kept returning, holding her thin, pale hand and whispering in her ear about how much he hated in in Thirteen, how much he needed her her to wake up before he went crazy and started yelling at these grey-clad robots.

She looked the same as always–peaceful and far too pale and far too thin, but otherwise as if she was sleeping.  “I’m leaving,” he murmured, covering her hand with his.  “They’re sending us to the Capitol as the Star Squad, which is a stupid name if you ask me.”  He glanced around, making sure no medics were looking, and swiftly kissed her knuckles.  “Do me a favor and wake up before I come home, okay?”

The next morning, the Squad stood around aimlessly in front of their hovercraft, saying hurried goodbyes to their families while various workers from Thirteen made sure their supplies were accounted for.  Gale kissed his mother and Posy clung to his leg tearfully, and Katniss had Prim wrapped in a tight hug to left.  Prim broke away and wrapped her arms around his neck too.  “There’s someone who wants to see you.  Back of the hangar, near the elevators,” she whispered and then returned to her sister.

Gale’s eyes tracked through the vast hangar until he spotted a thin figure leaning against the wall, clad in a thin hospital gown.  He was moving before he even thought to take a step, and jogging before he consciously recognized her.  “You’re awake,” he breathed, taking in the way her collarbones jutted out sharply from her skin, so different from the soft curves he’d come to appreciate.

“I am.  Prim said you visited me,” she said a little shyly.

“Every chance I got,” he said, feeling a little shy himself.

“Well, I have to get back to the med bay before they notice I’m gone, but do me a favor–come home, okay?”  She leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

He carried the memory of that kiss all the way into hell and back.


	3. A Toast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Madgesundersee requested "someone else's wedding" and "angst, literally any angst" so blame her for this one, not me.

“To the bride and groom,” Madge finished, raising her champagne flute towards Katniss and Gale, relieved to be finished with her part.  Everyone repeated her words in a chorus and cheered when they kissed, and no one looked at Madge to notice just how much this wedding was killing her.

Except for Gale, who had sent several measured looks in her direction over the course of the day that did nothing but make her feel worse.

She knew that if she had asked him to, he would have stopped the wedding.  Which was ridiculous, because he had a lifetime of history with Katniss and all he had with Madge was a one-time mistake that they never spoke about after he got back together with Katniss (for the third time.  There would be one more breakup before the wedding).  But he still came to her a week after he proposed (a decision Katniss admitted was mostly borne out of whiskey and a fight), looking more distraught than she’d ever seen him.  “Tell me to call it off,” he’d rasped.  “Give me a reason and I will.”

Madge had refused, because what sort of friend would she have been if she had?  She was an aberration in his life, a misplaced stitch in the pattern.  She couldn’t compete with decades of history, with lives that had been intertwined since long before she showed up.  Their night together was branded on her skin, burned into her memory, but she refused to hurt the woman they both loved.

So instead she smiled, saving her tears for tomorrow.


	4. The Bane of Her Existence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From smilerforyou's request for gadge and bed sharing.

Gale Hawthorne was the bane of Madge’s existence.

She had informed Katniss of this fact when Katniss was organizing her joint bachelor-bachelorette party with Peeta up at his family’s cabin, but Katniss waved her off.  “He’s not nearly as much of a dick as he was in high school,” Katniss explained, but Madge was still very much not looking forward to this weekend.  “Not as much of a dick” isn’t really much of a compliment, and even if he’d mellowed, Gale had a long way to go before he wasn’t an enormous jackass.

Fortunately for Madge, Peeta had nearly two dozen “close” friends and they all showed up for the weekend, which meant she had plenty of excuses to dodge Gale.  He was still frustratingly handsome and seemed to be everywhere she looked, but she made it through the first day without having to do more than send him a sarcastic wave.

But that night as the revelry was dying down, Madge slipped upstairs to the room she’d claimed when she first arrived only to find none other than Gale Hawthorne, Bane of Her Existence, stripped down to his boxers and climbing into her bed.  “What the hell are you doing?” she snapped, flipping on the lights and crossing her arms.

Gale looked bewildered.  “Going to bed?”

“In the room I claimed several hours before you got here?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.  Gale still looked confused so she pointed at her Vera Bradley duffle in the corner, which clearly marked the room as occupied.

“Oh, shit–I didn’t see that.  Honest, Madge.  I didn’t.”  He looked contrite so she took a small measure of pity on him.

“Fine.  I’m going to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change.  Just be gone by the time I come back.”

She grabbed her things and flounced out, but when she returned Gale was standing awkwardly near her bedroom door.  He was at least wearing some basketball shorts now, but still shirtless and distractingly muscled.  “What now?” she sighed.

“All the other rooms are taken.  Mostly by people fucking, and it looks like someone threw up on the couch in the living room, so…”

Madge struggled not to roll her eyes.  “Fine.  You can sleep on the floor.”  

She thought she was being generous, but a half hour later she was still wide awake, listening to him trying to get comfortable on the thin carpet and her guilt took over.  “If you want to sleep in the bed you can, but you’d better stay on your side,” she told the ceiling.

Gale climbed in next to her.  “I used to have to share a bed with my brother.  I don’t kick, but I might steal the blankets.  Sorry in advance.”

“And, um…sorry for high school,” he continued, now lying on his back and talking to the ceiling as well.  “I’ve been trying to catch you and apologize all day, but every time I got near you you’d slip away.”

“You apologizing for anything in particular, or is this a blanket apology for four years of being a dick to me?”

“Blanket apology,” he replied, sounding almost amused.  

“Did Katniss put you up to this?”

“No.  I mean, she told me you still hated me, but I’ve always felt a little bad about how I treated you.”

“You should,” Madge retorted, and then softened slightly.  “But thanks.”

“G’night Madge,” he said with a smile in his voice.

She made an exasperated sound and rolled away from him, just in case he could see her smile in the dim light.  “‘Night.”

The next morning, Madge opened her eyes to find Gale watching her, something unexpectedly soft in his grey eyes.  “Hey there, sleepyhead,” he said, his voice hoarse from sleep.  A half-smile played at the corner of his mouth that Madge couldn’t help but return.

“Were you watching me sleep?  Because that’s creepy,” she tried to snap, but instead it came out…flirty.  _Oh fuck.  No, please no_ , she begged her subconscious, but she’d already catalogued the way a lock of dark hair fell over his forehead and how the soft morning sunlight made him seem…appealing. _Fuck.  Fuck fuck fuck._

“No, just wondering how I made it through four years without noticing how pretty you are,” he teased.  

Against her will, she smiled.  “Gale Hawthorne, are you hitting on me?  After I let you sleep in my bed?”   _Might as well go all in_.

Gale winked.  “Glad you finally noticed.”  He sat up, and yeah, fine, maybe he was like an exquisite physical specimen or whatever, and maybe he was a lot nicer than when he was eighteen, so she let the covers slip down as she stretched and noted the way his eyes darted to her low-cut tank top.

“Well, you have a lot of work to do to make up for high school,” she said.  “How about you start by making me breakfast?”

“Pretty sure we only have cereal.”

“And you’ve never made a lady cereal in the morning?” she flirted, a little disappointed when he pulled on his shirt.

“I can see what I can do,” he said with another wink, leaving the bedroom and closing the door softly behind him.

It was official: Gale Hawthorne was still the bane of her existence.  But now in a totally different, not-entirely-unappreciated, way.


	5. Kiss Cam

Madge Undersee was hot, sunburned, and grumpy.  When Delly had rounded up the rest of the women in the office for a “Baseball Ladies Bonding Party!” she had reluctantly agreed, since she was new and fairly reserved.  She could use a few more female friends in the office, and Delly’s enthusiasm for the local major league team was infectious.  Besides, Madge likes drinking beer outdoors at two in the afternoon as much anyone, so it could be fun, she reasoned.  And it had been, at least for the first three innings.  She’d chatted with the other women, hesitantly forging a few new friendships, and laughed at Delly’s camp counselor-esque antics with everyone else.  But now her watery beer was gone and her $5 hot dog consumed, and apparently the game was nowhere near over.  She remembered now why she never watched baseball: it was never-ending.  The sun had shifted and was now beating directly down on her, and she’d forgotten to put on sunscreen.  She could feel her shoulders sizzling in the heat and she started wondering when she could safely make her escape without seeming like a party-pooper.  To make matters worse, what appeared to be an  _actual giant_  had just crawled through their row to sit next to her, eliminating the barrier between herself and the rowdy group of guys next to her,  _and_  the jackass’ legs were so long he had to spread them out a bit, eating into her precious personal space. 

 

She crossed her legs and arms, glaring at him out of the corner of her eye.  To her surprise, he noticed and gestured to his legs.  “Oh, sorry—I didn’t mean to crowd you.”  He twisted slightly in his seat, angling his legs away from her.  Great, now she couldn’t even be  _mad_  at him, because he’d apologized.  And he also happened to be kind of insanely handsome—he was literally tall, dark, and handsome, and what, did he crawl off the cover of a romance novel or something?  Who the fuck actually looks like that?  Madge was in no mood to deal with this.   _Pretty soon he’s going to jump up and spill his beer all over me, and then I’m going to be sunburned, hot, and covered in shitty beer_ , she thought to herself, determined to be cranky.   _This is the last time I’m letting Delly talk me into anything._   She stared vacantly out at the field, annoyed at the entire world.  Lost in her thoughts, at first she didn’t notice everyone turning around and staring at her.  Not until Delly began shrieking “KISS CAM! KISS CAM!  MADGE, LOOK!” and the giant’s friends started whooping as well.  Startled from her daze, Madge looked up at the jumbotron, and…oh,  _fuck._   There she was, framed in the stupid fucking heart with the giant.

She turned to him, ready to snap “Don’t even think about it, buddy,” but instead found herself looking at his soft, apologetic smile.  He leaned over. 

“If we don’t, there will be boos,” he whispered, and sure enough, the cheers had already started to turn to slightly hostile heckling from the people in front of them.  He raised his eyebrows, clearly asking if this was okay.  Resigned, she gave a slight nod, and the giant gently cupped her cheek, slid his fingers into her hair, and kissed her.

And quite frankly, Madge had never experienced a kiss like this one.  It was soft and sweet, and she found herself lifting her own hand to his jaw, running her fingers along the stubble she found there.  It was only when she heard Delly scream, “YEAH MADGE!  GET IT, GIRL!” that she came back to herself and pulled away.  The giant seemed slightly dazed for a second, and then turned and waved to the crowd.  Madge followed suit, determined to not be outdone by his ability to take what had clearly been an  _amazing_  kiss in stride.

The jumbotron camera moved on, and the wolf-whistles died down.  Madge felt her cheeks flush and devoutly hoped that she could blame it on the heat.  She felt a hand lightly touch her forearm and turned to find herself once again caught in the giant’s piercing grey-eyed gaze.  “Hey, sorry about that.  I’m Gale.”  He held his hand out for her to shake. 

She took it, trying not to gulp at the way his calluses seemed to ignite tiny sparks across her skin.  “Madge,” she responded, dropping his hand and turning away as quickly as she could.  She pulled the woman next to her into a conversation, determinedly avoiding Delly’s eyebrow waggling and excited looks (and after a while,  _pointing_  at Gale and then giving Madge a thumb’s up.  She was going to _murder_  Delly).  The game continued, and Madge decided that if she stayed until the sixth inning, she could credibly leave to…go feed her non-existent cat?  She’d think of something, but she couldn’t stay for the entire game, not with  ~~the giant~~  Gale constantly glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.  Okay, and maybe she was doing the same thing, but only when he wasn’t looking.  (Except for the time when he was, and he  _winked_  at her.  Madge wanted to die.  Or at least leave the game).

She powered through, and the second the sixth inning was over, she grabbed her purse, gave Delly (who was now dancing along to the pop music blaring over the sound system, clearly super-drunk) a quick hug and dashed out of the stadium, refusing to even look at Gale as she left.

Sitting on the train back to her neighborhood, she dug through her purse, trying to find her earbuds.  Instead, she found a crumpled piece of paper.  It read,

_Madge,_

_I’m sorry if the kiss cam put you on the spot, but I can’t walk away from a kiss like that without even trying to ask you out.  So if you ever want to give it a shot, here’s my number._

_-Gale_

Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled out her phone and typed a quick “ _Sure. –Madge”_  text to the number on the note.  Then she dropped her head back against the window behind her, wondering just what she’d gotten herself into  _now_.


	6. Kiss Cam II (Meet the Hawthornes)

Madge was a wreck.  She’d been dating Gale for five months, ever since that fateful day at the baseball stadium.  They had met for dinner a few days later, and Madge didn’t exactly go home that night.  Or the next, come to think of it.  Mostly, things with Gale were pretty calm—sometimes she found his arrogance aggravating, but he sort of enjoyed seeing her riled up, so they usually, uh, worked things out—but right now, her leg wouldn’t stop bouncing and she kept biting her nails as Gale drove.

 

He reached over and grabbed her hand in his, keeping his eyes trained on the road.  “Relax, Madge.  It’s just my mom and siblings.  Not a pack of wolves.”

“Are you sure about that?”  Madge knew they would be nice, but she kind of wished she could have met them in shifts, instead of one fell swoop.  But Hazelle had invited Madge to dinner, and when Rory and Vick found out they had insisted on coming too.  So now she was meeting the entire Hawthorne clan all at once, and she sort of felt like dying.  She’d baked some brownies for dessert (okay, so Peeta had helped), but she was still terrified that she would say the wrong thing, or be awkward, or… something.

Gale pulled into the driveway and turned off the car, leaning over to cover both of her hands with his.  “I promise.  They’ll love you as much as I do.”

Well,  _that_  certainly didn’t help things.  Had Gale just said he  _loved_  her?  In a  _driveway_  in front of his _mother’s_ house?  She stared at him, uncomprehending.

“Dammit.  I just said that out loud, didn’t I?  Well, it’s true.  I love you, okay?  I love you, and my family will love you, and if we don’t get out of this car my sister will come out to investigate what’s taking so long, so take a deep breath and let’s do this.”

She took her breath, smiled, and leaned over to kiss him quickly.  “I love you too.”

The smile on his face helped steady her nerves.  They exited the car and walked up the steps to the front porch.  Posy threw open the door and practically tackled Madge into a hug (fortunately, Gale was holding the brownies). “Madge!  It’s so nice to meet you!”  Madge was a little taken aback, but Posy’s warm welcome helped.  The rest of the Hawthornes came swarming out of the house, Rory and Vick enthusiastically thumping Gale on the back and hugging Madge, Hazelle standing slightly behind the mess, trying to corral them.

“Rory-Vick-Posy,” she barked in one practiced breath.  “Give the poor girl some space.  Madge, honey, it’s lovely to meet you.”  She gave Madge a quick kiss on the cheek and ushered her inside.

Dinner was… a lot to process.  Madge wasn’t used to the noise and banter of a big family, and the Hawthorne’s were constantly laughing, teasing, and occasionally shouting down the table at each other.  She sat quietly at first, not quite up to jumping in.  But Hazelle made a point of asking her questions, and after a few minutes Posy asked her about her lipstick, and Rory asked if she had any single friends, and Vick asked about grad school, and suddenly she was joining in.  The brownies were a massive hit (she definitely owed Peeta), and Vick proclaimed that no one else in the family was allowed to bake anything anymore.

Driving home (they’d helped with the dishes, of course), Madge was happy.  Gale was right—they’d loved her, and she loved them.  Just as much as she loved Gale.


	7. Lost In Europe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From an anon request: How about an Everlark/Gadge "romantic" or just plain ol' nice couple trip to Europe?

“Oh my god, will you all just  _shut. up?_ ”  This was not how Madge wanted to spend her spring break.  Not at all.  When she and Katniss first planned this, it was just going to be the two of them, touring Italy, drinking wine, and hitting on Italian guys.  But then Katniss’s best friend from back home offered to come visit, and Katniss begged Madge to agree.  She had, reluctantly, although she didn’t really feel like third-wheeling it.  And then Katniss started dating Peeta, which Madge saw coming from a mile away when they’d met at the “Study Abroad Welcome Mixer” thrown by the British university they were all attending for the semester.  When Katniss had broached the possibility of Peeta joining them as well, she’d put her foot down.  No, she was absolutely not going to be on a two week long forced double date with a guy she’d never met.  So Peeta offered to bring his friend Delly along, a cheerful blonde who never stopped talking.  Madge grudgingly agreed, figuring that would make it more like a group trip than a couple’s vacation.

 

But then Delly bailed at the last minute, citing “unexpected complications” which Madge highly suspected actually just meant “My new girlfriend and I are going to take advantage of the empty hall to have sex all over the place.”  Which was how Madge found herself in a tiny courtyard in Venice, surrounded by three people who clearly did not handle low blood sugar very well.  They were lost, and Katniss and Peeta had been bickering since the train station.  Gale Hawthorne had evidently selected to play the strong silent type since he was being no help at all.  He was just leaning against a wall, smiling at any pretty woman who walked past and throwing out sarcastic comments that just served to rile everyone up even more.

“I  _told_  you we should have taken the vaporetto,” Peeta insisted, something he’d been saying for the past ten minutes and ignoring Madge’s plea for everyone to just shut the fuck up.

“Well, it’s a little late for that now.  Besides, if you will just  _give me a minute_  I think I can figure this out.”  Katniss stared at the map, vainly trying to figure out where they were.  Venice didn’t seem big on consistent street names, however, so pinpointing their location was nearly impossible.

“Why don’t we just keep walking that way?  Lots of people are headed that direction anyway.  And I really want to make it to that café for lunch.”  Madge felt hers was an eminently sensible suggestion, as it would solve both being lost  _and_  the lack of food.  None of them had eaten since Peeta had grabbed a bunch of vending machine food in the train station early this morning, and that barely counted.

Gale snorted.  “Yeah, a café where we can eat lunch for eighteen million fucking dollars.”

Oh, great.  More snide remarks about money.  Sure, her parents had more than the Hawthornes or Everdeens.  But Gale seemed to be ignoring the fact that he had  _flown to Europe just for the hell of it_.  She pretended she didn’t hear him.  “Look, we’re on an island.  If we just keep walking that way, eventually we’ll either find San Marco’s or we’ll hit the water, and we can figure out where we are then.”

“Actually, Venice isn’t so much an island as—“

“NO ONE CARES, PEETA.”  To her surprise, she and Gale had spoken simultaneously.  Then again, Peeta had been basically reciting the guidebook since they left Gatwick the night before and it was getting old.  But Gale caught her eye and smiled, and  _good lord_  that was a dangerous smile.  It nearly stopped her heart.

Fed up with everyone (and starving), Madge crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.  In her bossiest voice she announced, “Fine.  I’m going this way.  You guys can follow me, or not.  I’ll see you at the hostel tonight.”  She flounced away, hoping her gambit had paid off.  A quick glance behind her confirmed that it had, as Katniss angrily stuffed the map back into her backpack and the three of them started following Madge.

As it turned out, Madge was right.  Following the rest of the tourists  _did_  lead them to San Marco’s, and just in time to grab lunch at the fancy café on the piazza.  She tried not to be too smug, although when she saw the prices she realized Gale had been right.  It was going to cost eighteen million fucking dollars.  But if anyone balked at the price and tried to get them to leave, she would lose her mind.  So she pulled out her “emergencies only” credit card and slapped it down.  “Lunch is on me.”  Her father would kill her, but she’d pay him back.  Somehow.

Twenty minutes and eight plates of food later, everyone was in considerably better spirits.  Peeta was holding Katniss’ hand and staring moonily at her, and even worse, Katniss was staring moonily  _back._   Madge rolled her eyes at Gale, and he threw her a conspiratorial grin.  Suddenly unable to continue looking at him, Madge pushed the remains of her dessert around her plate—it was quite possibly the best thing she’d ever eaten, but it was also possible that in her hunger she’d over-ordered.  Slightly.  She was stuffed, but she didn’t want to let it go to waste.

Gale leaned over.  “You going to finish that?”  Her head snapped up, ready for a sharp retort, but the look in his eyes wasn’t teasing.  He just wanted to finish her dessert.  She slid the plate in his direction and he finished everything on it in three massive bites. 

Then he stood up and offered her his hand.  “All right.  Madge and I are going to go walk around while you guys deal with….this.”  He made a vague hand gesture towards Katniss and Peeta, accompanied by a face.  At least she wasn’t the only one annoyed with how much they loved each other.  It wasn’t so much that they were happy, it was that it was a little unsettling to see Katniss—sarcastic, loner Katniss—so head over heels.  It made Madge feel strangely lonely and left out.  So she took Gale’s outstretched hand and left the café.

As it turned out, there really wasn’t much to do in Venice besides see the mosaics in San Marco.  Well, there was other stuff to do, but it was expensive.  And after the lunch at the café, Madge was feeling a little tapped out financially.  So they walked.  For hours.  They walked, and talked, and laughed.  When he wasn’t hungry and annoyed, Gale was fun.   _Lots_  of fun.   _Too_  much fun.  She hadn’t forgotten his flirtatious smiles at every woman who walked past, so she didn’t quite know how to take his newfound interest in her.  And he was interested—he listened when she rambled excitedly about all the art they were going to see in Florence, and stopped to point out a building she’d off-handedly mentioned wanting to see nearly an hour before.   _Calm yourself, Madge.  He’s just killing time while Katniss is busy_.  But as the day wore on, his smiles got bigger while his eyes got darker—just a bit, just when he held her gaze for a heartbeat too long.

They were walking over a bridge when he stopped abruptly.  She turned to see what was the matter, but then his hands were cupping her face.  He bent down and kissed her softly and then pulled back and smiled.  “I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile,” he murmured, bringing a rosy blush to her cheeks.  And when they started walking again, he laced his fingers through hers and didn’t let go.


	8. Bus Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An anon asked for "stranger on the bus reading smut you wrote."

Madge read over people’s shoulders.  She knew it was a bad habit, but she couldn’t help it.  She figured it was her payment for the empty seat next to her always being the first one to go as the bus filled up. She knew people found it creepy, but she liked to see what people were doing when they thought no one else was watching.  So when the tall, dark haired man sat down next to her, her eyes slid to his phone automatically.

 

Madge almost gasped out loud at the familiar layout—he was reading  _fanfic?_   That was not possible.  First of all, fanfic is like, 90% women.  Second of all, despite his suit he had the distinct look of  a man who could fix his own car.  He was definitely not the type she’d picture reading fic, especially not—she risked another glance—something titled  _Longings_.  A bolt of fear shot through her.  No, it couldn’t be.  That had to be a really common title.  There was no way.  She took another quick peek, her heart sinking as her eyes landed on the names Damon and Elena.

She felt herself flush from head to toe.  Somehow, she had ended up sitting next to an incredibly handsome man who was reading  _her_  fanfic.  And not just any of her fics—no, he was reading the absolute filthiest one she’d ever written.  She wanted to die.  She might die, actually.  She would die here, on a city bus, and her tombstone would read “Died of Embarrassment.”  Her thoughts were racing; why on earth would  _he_ be reading  _Vampire Diaries_  fanfic?  He was a grown-ass man; if he wanted vampire  ~~porn~~  erotica you’d think he’d be reading  _True Blood_  fic, or even just straight up Anne Rice, not fanfic for a TV show aimed at teenagers.  Which, okay, she loved a little more than she should, seeing as she was a grown-ass woman writing smutty fanfic about characters on said TV show, but whatever.  Her life, her choices.

 But she had to know.  She couldn’t not try.  So Madge screwed up her courage and turned to him.  “Whatcha reading?”  She tried to keep her voice conversational, hoping he didn’t notice the high color of her cheeks.  He shifted in his seat, a little uncomfortable.  

“Uh, it’s something my mom caught my little sister reading.  She couldn’t bring herself to read it, so I volunteered.”

“What, is it dirty or something?”

He shifted again, a tiny grin creeping across his face.  “Yeah, a little bit.”

“How old is your sister?”   _Please at least be in high school, please at least be in high school_.

“She’s fifteen.”   _Oh thank god._   “But Ma’s kind of strict when it comes to this stuff.” 

Madge felt her back stiffen.  Fifteen wasn’t  _that_  young.  And teenage girls have every right to explore their sexuality in a safe space, just as much as teenage boys.  Madge had no use for people with double standards—and the easy way he smiled at her indicated he’d had more than his fair share of women’s company, probably starting back when he was around that age.  “So your sister isn’t supposed to read anything that would taint her currently pure and virginal mind, is that it?” she snapped, clearly catching him a bit off guard.

“Well, I’m not exactly thrilled to be discussing my  _baby sister’s_  virginal or not-virginal mind with a  _complete stranger_  but since I can see it’s got your back up, no, it’s not that.  Ma was just worried this was going to be some 50 Shades of Grey type shit, and give Pose ‘damaging ideas about sex and gender roles.’  Posy read Twilight a few years ago and when Ma found out she practically tied her to the couch and made her watch  _A League of Their Own_  and  _Fried Green Tomatoes_  for an entire weekend.”

 Oh.  Well, that was a relief.  Whoever this man’s  _Ma_  is, Madge already liked her.  And  _Ma_ had nothing to worry about with Madge’s fic, if her main concern was that it was anti-feminist or modeled an abusive relationship.  It definitely wasn’t that.  A little on the over-the-top filthy side, sure, but Elena was the one calling all the shots.  She dropped her eyes to his phone.  Somehow, he was already on the first—no,  _second—_ time that Damon goes down on Elena.  How was he reading that fast?  She had to distract him before he got to the washing machine scene.  Or the bit where Matt walks in and, uh, joins in.

“So?  How is it?  Does it meet your approval?”  She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping first that he liked it (wait, why did she care if he liked it? She was just trying to distract him) and second that it got him to stop reading.

He chuckled.  “Well, whoever this—“ he scrolled up a bit, “— _Princess Blair_  is, she’s got quite the inventive mind.  It’s maybe a little much for my baby sister to read, but I think I would like to meet her.  See if her imagination translates into reality.”

Madge swallowed back a squeak.  “I don’t think I can help you there,”  _please don’t call my bluff, please don’t call my bluff_ , “But I’m Madge.”  She stuck her hand out and he took it.

“Gale.  Nice to meet you, Madge.”  He held his phone towards her.  “My stop is coming up, but any chance you want to continue this conversation sometime?  Maybe over coffee?”

Madge’s brain told her that this was a bad idea, that sooner or later he would put two and two together.  But his grey eyes were sparkling and his grin was bordering on dangerous, so she accepted his phone and quickly typed in her number.  Gale left the bus and waved to her from the sidewalk, that grin still on his face, and Madge prayed to whatever god would listen that he didn’t do any more investigation into Princess Blair’s other stories.  If he found her cache of  _Gossip Girl_  fic—especially that one about Blair and Chuck getting rather creative in a limo—she would  _die._

Oh, she was in trouble now.


	9. Bus Strangers (II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nursekelly asked for a part II.

 

Madge couldn’t take it any more.  She was constantly jumpy, switching tabs on her browser whenever Gale glanced her way.  It had only been three months (coffee had turned into a walk around a nearby park, which turned into dinner, which turned into drinks, which turned into Gale sleeping over, which turned into neither of them really leaving her bed for two full days, which turned into “spending all their free time together for the past three months doing very couple-y things,”) but she’d spent them terrified that he would realize she was  _Princess Blair._ Madge wasn’t sure why she was so scared– it’s not like Gale was spending his free time investigating the real life identities of his sister’s favorite fanfic authors– but she knew she couldn’t keep going on like this.  It felt like a lie, and every time he told people about how they met (a story he thought was hilarious) she cringed inwardly.

So she closed her laptop (she’d just posted a new story and had a terrible habit of refreshing the page over and over as the reviews rolled in) and turned to him.  "Gale, there’s something I need to tell you.“

He looked over at her, tearing his eyes from the baseball game on TV. "That sounds…ominous,” he said with an eyebrow raise.

“No, it’s nothing bad, I swear.  Or not, you know,  _that_  bad, it’s just something I should have told you awhile ago and I didn’t know how to and now it feels like I’m lying to you but it’s  _so embarrassing_  that I don’t know how to tell you.”

Gale just stared at her in response.

Madge took a deep breath.  "You know how I started talking to you about what you were reading that day?  Well, it’s because, um, well, because…because-I’m-Princess-Blair-please-don’t-dump-me.“

"You're  _who?_ ”

“Princess Blair.”

“Madge, I have no idea who that is.”

She sighed.   _“Princess Blair_.  The author of that fanfic you were reading on the bus.  I wrote that.  It’s mine.  And I might die of embarrassment right now, so if you’re going to dump me for it, please do it over the phone or something because I can’t look at you.”  To her surprise, Gale cracked up.  She risked a look at him (her face was buried in her hands).  "Are you laughing at me?“ she asked in a tiny voice.

"No!  Well, yes, a little bit,” he chuckled. “But not in the way you think.  I don’t give a damn if you write fanfic, it’s just that you’re so red right now it’s adorable.  I’m sorry, come here.”  He pulled her into his lap, letting her hide her face against his chest.  "Honestly Madge, it’s…it’s whatever.  I don’t care.  Is that why you talked to me that day?“  She nodded, keeping her face hidden.  He kissed the top of her head.  "Then I’m glad, because it got us talking, okay?  Don’t be embarrassed. I really don’t give a fuck, okay?”

“Okay,” Madge whispered.

“Just one favor, though.  Let’s not tell Posy.”

“Definitely,” she responded, snuggling deeper into his embrace.


	10. Jealous Katniss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hawtsee requested platonically-jealous Katniss.

Katniss glowered at Gale’s back as he walked away, Madge Undersee tucked under his arm.  She slammed her locker and headed to Bio, not sure if she was angrier at Gale, Madge, or herself.  It wasn’t that she  _wanted_  Gale for herself—gross—but he’d always been  _hers_.   _She_  was the one he sat next to at lunch and grumbled to about his teachers,  _she_  was the one that listened when he missed his dad, and  _she_  was the one that went hunting with him every weekend.  But now he was doing those things with  _her._   Katniss almost wished Gale was dating one of the ditzy girls that flirted with him constantly; she could handle that, because she knew they could never replace her.  But Madge?  Madge was different.  Katniss  _liked_  Madge.  She was smart and nice, and she wasn’t afraid to call Gale on his bullshit.  And the way Gale looked at Madge— he’d never looked at her like that.  Not that she wanted him to—again, gross— but whenever Madge said something and his eyes lit up, Katniss felt suddenly lonely.

She didn’t like feeling so left out.


	11. Anyone But Johanna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An anon asked for everlark setting gadge up and then Madge finding out Gale had slept with Johanna a few times. And special thanks to mereditheo for her insight into Madge's TV watching habits.

“Indian or Chinese?”

Gale looked up from his computer, momentarily distracted.  “Sorry, what?”

“Do you want Indian for dinner tonight, or Chinese? I’ll put the order in now and that way it will be here by the time you’re done.”  Madge’s stomach had started growling ten minutes ago and the situation was going to get dire if she didn’t eat soon.

 

“Let’s do Indian.  That place we went a few weeks ago is in my phone—I’ll have the lamb vindaloo.  And make sure you get some samosas.”

Madge hit pause on the DVR and stuck her hand over the back of the couch, waiting for his phone.  They had only been dating a few months, but they’d fallen into an easy intimacy that almost unnerved her.  They had met at Peeta’s birthday party, a big dinner organized by Madge at his favorite restaurant.  Peeta had brought Katniss, who brought her best friend Gale.  Madge suspected it was a set up, and her suspicion was confirmed when Peeta awkwardly suggested that several people switch spots, resulting in Gale sitting next to her.  (Peeta was never as subtle as he thought he was.  At least not with Madge, who’d known him since college).  At first she had been annoyed, but Gale’s sarcastic charm won her over in the end.  They’d gone out for dinner the next Friday night, and Madge hadn’t exactly gone home that night.  Or the next, actually.  Okay, so they spent the entire weekend in bed, but whatever.  They were consenting adults.  And things had escalated from there, to where they were spending most nights together, alternating between their apartments.  Today was one such weekend, spent lazing about on the couch until an hour ago, when Gale got an emergency call from a client about one of his projects.  So he was on his computer while she caught up on Vanderpump Rules, which he’d thoughtfully added to his DVR just for her.

She stood and wandered toward the kitchen to pull out the stack of take out menus and make her decision.  Madge idly scrolled through his phone, looking for the number.  “Jaipur Palace, right?” she called over her shoulder.  Gale made a noise that she took to mean “yes.”  She found the J’s, but immediately scrolled too far.  Just as she went to scroll back up, a name caught her eye.

Johanna Mason.

No, that wasn’t possible.  How would Gale know  _Johanna?_ Johanna, the girl who had been her friend in middle school.  Johanna, the girl turned on her their freshman year and told their entire high school that Madge was a  _virgin_  and encouraged her guy friends to ask Madge out as a  _joke_  to see if they could get the uptight mayor’s daughter to  _put out_.  It couldn’t be the same Johanna.  That wasn’t possible.  Gale wouldn’t know her,  He  _couldn’t_  know her.  She stared at his phone, disbelieving.

Gale closed his laptop and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.  “Good news, babe.  I’m done.  Can’t you find the number? I could have sworn I put it in there.”

She twisted out of his embrace, holding his phone out like it was diseased.  “How—how do you know Johanna Mason?”

“Jo?  How do  _you_  know Jo?”  Gale  looked honestly puzzled.  Madge only felt worse.

“No, I asked you first.”

“I dated her a couple of years ago.  I didn’t even know I still had her number.  Why?  How do you know Jo?”

“How long?”

“How long did I date Jo?  Is that what you’re asking?  Christ, I don’t know.  More than a month, less than a year.”

“ _How. Long._ ”  Madge couldn’t keep the edge out of her voice.  She had to know.  She had to know _exactly._

“Fine.  I don’t know, six months, give or take.  I think.  It wasn’t like I kept track of our anniversary.  But are you going to tell me what’s going on?  You’re worrying me.”

Six months.  Six months.  Twice as long as she’d been dating Gale.   _Six. Months_.  This could not be happening.  She hadn’t even thought about Johanna in ages.  And now here was the undeniable fact that Johanna had fucked Madge’s boyfriend,  _again_.  She sank into a kitchen chair, speechless.  She kept reliving that one moment, the moment that had been burned into her brain for the past ten years.  Walking upstairs after prom.  Nervously checking her make up one last time in the bathroom mirror.  Walking down the hall and grasping the door knob, the muffled sounds of the party continuing downstairs.  And opening the door to find Johanna Mason riding Madge’s boyfriend, a cruel smile stretched across her face.  “Looks like I beat ya to it, honey,” she called as Madge slammed the door and sprinted down the stairs.  It had been awful.  That night, and for the next few weeks at school, because somehow,  _everyone_  knew.  Madge was a joke, and while she knew she should have blamed her boyfriend more, she knew it was Johanna’s idea.  The set up was too perfect.  It had her fingerprints all over it.

“Madge, please.  Tell me what’s wrong.  I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong,” Gale pleaded, sitting next to her and sliding his hands over hers.

“I can’t—I can’t believe you dated  _her_.”  Her voice caught on the last word, tears now pouring down her cheeks.

“Hey, hey, hey—why the tears?  It was years ago.  I’ll delete her number, okay? Just tell me what’s wrong.”

The whole awful story came pouring out, from their first lunch together as terrified sixth graders to prom night.  The betrayal, the sadness, the hurt, the pain of those years, she told him all of it.  “And now,” she sobbed, knowing she was being maybe a  _little_  overdramatic but unable to stop herself, “she’s taken you too.”

Gale scooted his chair back and motioned for her to sit in his lap.  Once she’d climbed on, he kissed her forehead. “First of all, she didn’t take me.  I’m here, and I have  _no interest_  in seeing her again, okay?  Second of all, I hate that she hurt you like this.  If it helps, she’s still a bitch.”

Madge laughed weakly.  “But she had you for six months.  I can’t compete with that.”

“Well, we might have dated for six months, but Madge, I can promise you that what we have?  It’s so much more than anything I had with her.”  He gave a wry chuckle.  “Me and Jo—it was bad.  Really bad.  All we did was fight and…uh, well, we fought a lot.  It was so bad that Thom begged me to dump her.”  Gale laced their fingers together and kissed her hand gently.  “Madge, I’m sorry.  I had no idea.  If I could take it back, I would.”

“No, it’s—it’s okay,” she sniffled.  “I’m sorry I freaked out.  I just hadn’t heard or thought about her in forever, and there she was in your phone and I just love you so much that the thought of her being with you killed me.”  She stilled in his arms, realizing what she’d just said.  He froze too, his lips mid-kiss on the top of her head.

Gale pulled his head back.  “You love me, eh?”  She debated taking it back, saying she misspoke.  It was too soon, too much, this was going to ruin things, and Johanna would win  _again_.  But Gale just gave her a soft smile.  “Well, it’s a good thing I love you too, or this would be getting awkward right about now.”

She smiled and tilted her face up for a kiss, and pretty soon, both Johanna and the food were forgotten, discarded like their clothes on the kitchen floor.


	12. What if?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An anon requested Gale and Madge dealing with an unexpected pregnancy while dating.

Madge’s hands were shaking when Gale’s phone went off.  “Time’s up,” he said, a muscle in his jaw fluttering.

Madge picked up the thin plastic stick and her heart sank at the sight of the plus sign.  “It’s positive,” she sighed, and sat down next to him on the bathtub rim.

Gale was the one who suggested the pregnancy test in the first place.  Madge had been feeling under the weather for weeks, and he had been digging around her vanity looking for his comb when he suddenly stood up.  “When was the last time you had a period?” he had asked.

Madge was brushing her teeth and froze.  She did some rapid mental calculations and her stomach dropped.  Gale had taken one look at her face and offered to run and pick up a test, and here they were.

Pregnant, less than six months in.

It was too soon— she knew that, and he had knew that.  But things had been so right with him from so early on, that there was a part of her that was almost…excited.  “It’s too soon, right?” she asked him, the test still in her trembling hands.

“I can’t—Madge, this has to be up to you.  I’ll— I’ll support you, whatever you choose.”

Madge swallowed even though her throat was dry.  “What if— what I kept it?”

She risked a look at him and saw the corner of his mouth twitch up.  “That would…that would be nice,” he said carefully.

“It’s soon, but I think…”

“…we could?” Gale finished.

“I think we could,” Madge said, a tiny smile creeping across her face.  “A baby.  I think we’re going to have a  _baby_.”

“I think we are,” he said, and when the smile that lit up his face she knew they’d made the right decision.


	13. Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hawtsee requested secretly dating, which I combined with the 12 Days of Gadge prompt for Secret Santa.

“Okay, that means Gale is next,” Delly announced.  He shuffled nervously as he grabbed the red gift bag from under the tree.  “I, uh, had…Madge,” he said, thrusting the bag toward her.

A jolt entirely unconnected to their friends’ annual secret santa exchange shot through her belly.  Madge accepted it gingerly and tried to figure out if she could read anything on his face.  Gale had been hinting about getting her a Christmas present lately and bragging that she would love it, but she never thought he meant he had her name in the exchange.  She wondered how she was supposed to react— after all, their whole  _thing_  was not telling anyone.  But people (Johanna) would notice if Gale got her something personal, because as far as anyone else knew, she and Gale barely got along.

But Gale’s face was inscrutable so she lowered her gaze to the white tissue paper emerging from the bag.  Her heart was pounding, but when she reached inside, she felt a heavy, waxy cylinder and her heart abruptly sank.

It was a candle.  A candle.

A candle?

Did he know her at all?

Okay, so it had been all of three months, mostly stolen moments when their friends were busy and the occasional weekend spent in Madge’s bed, but she thought he knew her better than that.  Or at least the way he’d talked about the gift had led her to believe so, anyway.

But a fucking candle?

Madge pulled it out and smiled brightly, her best Mayor’s Daughter smile, and thanked him like they were nothing more than two people who had friends in common and avoided each other whenever possible.  The memory of his hand brushing her hair back from her forehead, gentle and sweet, rose unbidden in her mind and she choked it down.  It was stupid to be this upset by a secret santa gift exchange, and for the first time she wished everyone else knew so she could pull him aside and talk to him like his sort-of-girlfriend.  She squeezed past Katniss’ knees (she was too busy eating cookies from Peeta’s plate to notice Madge’s forced expression) and pulled her gift from the pile and attention moved on, but the sting of Gale’s gift remained.

She had just shut her car door that night when the passenger side opened and Gale hopped in.  “I didn’t just get you a candle,” he said without preamble.  “That was a decoy gift.”

The weight on her chest lifted a little.  “A decoy?”

Gale handed over a box, roughly the same size as the dreaded candle, neatly wrapped in bright green paper.  “A decoy,” he confirmed.  “It couldn’t look like I knew you that well, you know?”

Madge loosened the tape and pulled the paper off in one piece.  Inside the box was a bright pink enameled travel mug with  _Madge_  printed on it in a loopy, cursive font.  “This way, Starbucks baristas won’t keep calling you Marge,” he said with a grin.

She chuckled at the memory, the day she’d stopped by his apartment on a Friday evening and spent a good fifteen minutes complaining that no matter how clearly she enunciated her name, every barista thought she was named Marge.  She leaned across the center console and kissed him even though the lights were still on in Peeta’s house, even though any number of their friends could see.

For the moment, she didn’t care.


	14. An (un)lucky Christmas Eve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sassy-nach requested: What about a "I just came out of surgery and I’m convinced you’re my partner but you’re the just the long suffering (and super hot) trainee nurse” AU with Gadge?
> 
> I also combined it with today's 12 Days of Gadge prompt, "emergency."

Madge entered the room as quietly as she could and started checking the patient’s vitals.  He had come in earlier that day with acute appendicitis, followed by a pack of people that could only be his family.  Madge was secretly a little jealous of the crowd, since these days it was only her and her father, but she supposed having to have your appendix out on Christmas Eve made you unlucky, even if you came with an entourage of no less than three siblings, a mother, and two women that referred to themselves as “cousins, sort of.”  They were a cheerful crew, this family of Gale Hawthorne, 27, filling the room with noise and chatter, but now things were dark and quiet.  His mother was sleeping in a chair but the rest had been shooed out hours ago.

“Hey beautiful,” he mumbled as Madge checked his IV bags.

She bit back a smile.  “Feeling better?” she asked, ignoring the flirting.  Painkillers did funny stuff to people, after all.

“Yeah, now that you’re here,” he said with a goofy smile, trying to catch her hand.  “Thanks for coming, babe.”

Madge let out a snort before she could stop herself.  “Who do you think I am?” she asked.  She should probably just gently redirect his attentions, but fuck it— she was bored.  

He furrowed his brow, clearly thinking hard through the fog of painkillers and anesthesia.  “My girlfriend, right?  You’ve gotta be.”

“I have to be?”

“A girl as pretty as you?  Yeah, no way I’d see you without at least trying to hit on you.”

Madge entered a few notations into his chart. “What if I’d turned you down?  Maybe I’m immune to your charms,” she teased.

He held his hand to his heart and put on an offended expression.  “You’d never,” he said.  

“I might,” she said, but then took pity on him.  “But I’m actually your nurse, not your girlfriend,” she said.

“For real?”

“For real.  They’re paying me to be here,” she said with a grin.

Gale sighed dramatically.  “Figures,” he grumbled.  “I have the worst fucking luck.”

Madge smiled to herself and turned to go, but stopped when he called out.  “Hey— you’re not my girlfriend, but when I get out of here, would you consider at least a date?”

“Talk to me when you don’t feel like you’re floating on a cloud and we’ll see,” Madge replied.  

The rest of her shift absolutely flew by.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An anon requested "My neighbour’s sibling got the wrong house number and barged into my apartment on accident."

Madge kicked the door with her heel and it swung back, bouncing slightly ajar when it hit the lock.  She grumbled to herself— she’d been bugging the super to fix her door and while Haymitch had many talents,  _ actually being responsive to resident complaints _ was not one of them— and dropped the groceries on her counter. Her ice cream was half melted thanks to the long, hot walk back from the store and she had to get it in the freezer before it was a soupy mess.  

“You really shouldn’t leave the door open,” a male voice behind her said, and Madge jumped a half mile into the air.

“Who are you?” she shrieked just as the intruder asked “Who the fuck are you?”

Madge groped behind herself for the knife block and curled her fingers around a handle.  She pulled it out in one swift movement and the intruder jumped back, hands up in surrender.  He was a little younger than her, tall and slender with a shock of black hair that kept falling into his eyes.  “Hey hey hey, I’m just Gale’s brother,” he said in what she assumed was an attempt at a soothing tone, but her heart was still pounding.  

“And who the fuck is that?” Madge asked, taking a step back when the intruder— who yeah, probably wasn’t here to murder her considering it was two in the afternoon and he was clearly looking for someone else, but he had just  _ scared the shit _ out of her so she kept the knife at the ready— moved towards her.

“Your...boyfriend?”

“Don’t have one,” Madge said, and then another man walked through her door, only to burst out laughing.

“Hey dumbass, my apartment’s across the hall,” the new intruder announced.  He was a slightly broader version of the original mystery man, his jaw a little more defined and with a few days of scruff.  “And you really might want to reconsider using that knife for protection,” he said dryly, turning his grey eyes on her.

Madge glanced down at the knife in her hands. In her panic she’d grabbed her paring knife, the two inch blade only slightly longer than Peeta’s pocket knife.  “I happen to be quite the expert at apple peeling,” she sniffed, the years of training to be a politician’s daughter finally coming in handy.  Her new neighbor raised his eyebrows and a smile flitted across her face.  “You did scare the ever living shit out of me though,” she told the first one.

“And if you’d grabbed a knife any bigger, you probably would have scared the shit out of me,” the taller one replied.  “I’m Gale, by the way.  Just moved into 3B.  And this idiot here is my brother Rory.”

“Madge,” she said, and set down the knife as her heartbeat slowed.

“Nice to meet you,” Gale said, and the smile he flashed her did nothing to stall the slight flush of embarrassment that swept up her neck.  “But we should get going, or Ma is gonna skin us alive for being late,” he told his brother.

“She’ll skin you; I’m the favorite,” Rory threw back.

“Please, Pose is the favorite,” Gale said, and ruffled his brother’s hair, which was kind of adorable considering they both had to be in their mid twenties.  “Sorry to scare you, Madge, but it was nice to meet you.”

Madge nodded and only found her voice once they reached her door.  “Hey— whenever you get back, come on over for a drink.  It’d be nice to get to know one of my neighbors, you know?  And maybe apologize for holding your brother at knife point.”

He smiled again, and yeah, he pretty clearly knew he was handsome but Madge didn’t care because  _ damn was he handsome _ .  “You’re on,” Gale agreed, and Madge grinned back.

Haymitch might be a terrible building manager, but he’d just earned himself a six pack.

 


	16. Pennsylvania, 1917

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m working on a gadge historical au for @hawtsee because she won me in the Fandom Trumps Hate auction and I feel really, really bad that it’s taking so long. So here’s a tiny little flashback that may or may not make it into the final piece to say thanks for your patience, friend.

“Hurry up, Catnip,” Gale called.  Rory and Vick were getting restless and Ma would skin him alive if he brought his brothers home covered in dirt, and he and Katniss had their traps to check before it got dark besides. He didn’t have time for her to dawdle with anyone, much less the mayor’s daughter. **  
**

Katniss waved goodbye to her friend and stormed across the front of the schoolyard.  “You didn’t have to _yell_ ,” Katniss grumbled.  “I was just saying goodbye.” Prim was sitting quietly on the steps, reading from her primer, but she stood and tucked it under her arm once Katniss arrived.

Gale shoved the back of Rory’s head to get him to stop pestering Vick.  “Come on,” he ordered, and his brothers ceased their bickering for the moment.

“She wants to come with us to the woods sometime,” Katniss said.

“Who?” Gale yanked Vick up next to him so he didn’t tackle Rory like he was threatening.  “Ma just washed your clothes.  You fight him, she’ll know,” he reminded his brother.

“Madge,” Katniss replied.  

“You’ve got something on your face,” he said, looking at her fully for the first time.  There was a pinkish-red smear near the corner of her lips and she wiped at it hastily.

“It’s just strawberries,” she muttered.  “But Madge wanted to—”

“The strawberries we sold the mayor?” Gale interrupted.  Those strawberries always brought him a strange mix of pride and shame, because he was the one who found the bush and realized they could sell them. But that meant having to traipse to the backdoors of every rich family in town and beg for them to consider his wares, something that made anger boil in his belly.  Sometimes Katniss argued that they should keep some for themselves, just as a treat, but Gale saw no reason to give up a good coin for something so frivolous.  The mayor was his best customer, which meant he often saw Madge eating _his_ strawberries at school.

He hated her for that.

“Probably,” Katniss admitted.  “But Madge—”

“– Madge wouldn’t want to get her pretty dresses dirty,” he sneered, a little louder than he intended.  “She’d be useless.  She can’t come with us, and that’s final.”  They didn’t go into the woods for fun, they went into the woods because otherwise, he and Katniss would have to watch their families starve.  He hated that, and he hated the fact that Madge didn’t know what that was like even more.

Katniss glanced over her shoulder and Gale realized Madge had been just a few yards behind them all along.  Sadness and anger crossed her face, which made him feel _worse_ , which just made him angrier.  Madge turned on her heel with her nose in the air and he looked back at Katniss who was glaring at him reproachfully.  “Don’t look at me like that; you know I’m right,” he snapped.

Katniss shrugged and took Prim’s hand, but a leaden feeling had settled into his gut anyway.   _She would be useless,_ he told himself as they walked back to the Seam, and by the time they made it to the woods he almost believed it.


	17. Essence of Murtlap and a Pinch of Courage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Gadge Day!

**  
  
**Gale spent plenty of time in detention.  Most of his time, actually, because when you have a jackass like Thread for a Potions teacher and a smart mouth, you tend to get into trouble.  Whenever he challenged Thread on one of his pet theories— like the one where he said halfbloods had comparably less power than purebloods— Katniss would sigh and try and kick him under the table.  It wasn’t that she _agreed_  with Thread, of course, she was just sick of having to get Prim to make him essence of murtlap three times a week. **  
**

It was worth it, though.

But that self-righteousness didn’t make his hand hurt any less and by the time he made it back to the common room his jaw was clenched so tightly he thought his teeth might shatter.  He climbed through the portrait hole and drew up short, because Katniss wasn’t waiting for him in the common room.

Madge was.

Madge Undersee, daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister, Gryffindor prefect, and one of Gale’s least favorite people.  She hadn’t actually done anything to him to deserve that title, but when you grew up in a cramped three-room cottage and then suddenly you had a classmate whose parlor was bigger than your entire  _house_ , resentment was only natural.  Add to that the fact that Katniss seemed to like her and the fact that Madge never did anything he could actually blame her for and you have a recipe for intense, personal dislike that was completely unfounded in the most annoying way.

“Sit,” Madge ordered, barely looking at him.

“I was just off to—”

“Sit,” she repeated.  “Don’t pretend like your hand isn’t killing you.”

“Where’s Katniss?” he asked instead.

“Prim got caught sneaking murtlap out of the potions cupboard and Katniss took the fall for her.  Haymitch stepped in so she won’t get those evil lines, but she’s probably stuck in the Forbidden Forest with him for the rest of the night.  Now are you going to let me look at that?” She finished with a pointed look at the blood that was dripping from his hand onto the carpet.

Gale sat and Madge placed the bowl of strained murtlap tentacles between them.  “Wait, if Prim got caught stealing, how did you get this?”

Madge rolled her eyes and dipped a bandage into the mixture.  “I stole it,” she said matter-of-factly.

Gale’s eyebrows threatened to rise all the way off his forehead.  “You?”

She took his hand in hers, her brow furrowed in concentration.  “Yes, me.  I haven’t lost any points for Gryffindor this term and Thread would never dare put someone as important as  _me_  in detention.”

Gale caught the bitter sarcasm in her voice and then sighed in relief as the murtlap soothed his stinging cuts.  “Yeah, but…why?  I’m not exactly nice to you.”

The corner of her mouth quirked up.  “No, you aren’t.  But I appreciate that you’ll always stand up for what you believe, even if it puts you in danger.”  She wrapped another soaked bandage around his hand and looked up, surprising him with her bright blue gaze.  “Standing up to someone like that— it matters.”

“What do you care?” he asked, grasping for his reasons to dislike her.  As usual, she was making it damnably hard.  “You’re a pureblood.”

“No, I’m not.  My mum’s muggleborn, and anyway, why shouldn’t I care?  That sort of bullshit hurts us all.”

Gale had to look away, embarrassed.  Madge clicked her tongue and stood.  “That should do it.  Have a good night, Gale,” she said with a chill in her voice.

She was halfway up the stairs when he found his voice.  “Hey— Madge,” he called and she turned.  “Thank you,” he mumbled.

She gave him a soft smile that did something strange to his chest.  “You’re welcome, Gale,” she said and left him sitting in the Gryffindor common room, pondering everything he thought he knew about Madge Undersee.


	18. Justice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Gadge Day x2

Gale walked to the horse and put his hand on the saddle as if to leave, but Madge grabbed the bridle and lifted her chin defiantly.  The horse whinnied and pawed at the dirt but she stood her ground, caught between Gale and the wooden fence.  “If you won’t help me get justice for my daddy, then I’ll get it myself,” she said with a vaguely southern lilt. **  
**

Gale looked off into the middle distance and sighed.  “That’ll just get you killed too,” he said grimly.

“Then I’ll die.”

Gale ran his fingers through his hair and replaced his hat, his eyes finally locking onto her.  “You would, wouldn’t you?  You’ll see this through or die tryin’.”

“What do you care?  You said you didn’t want any part of it.”  She let a small quaver into her voice but curled her fingers into her soft blue skirt to steady herself.

“And if I stay?”

She raised her eyebrows.  “If you stay?”

“Will you keep treating me like the hired help, or will you admit you want me?”

“I don’t know what you’re on about,” she said, but a blush was crawling up her neck at the way he was looking at her.  “I’m engaged.”

“You’re engaged to a man you haven’t seen in three years,” he said, positively towering over her.  “Face it— he’s never coming out to Montana to fetch you.”

“Then I’ll be a spinster,” she sniffed primly even though her heart was thundering.

“Hardly,” he growled, and grabbed her arm.

“Cut,” Haymitch called, clearly annoyed by the proceedings.  Gale immediately let go of Madge and a crew member hustled over to take the horse’s reins.  “Going off script again, are we?” Haymitch grumbled.

Madge took a deep, steadying breath and refused to look at Gale.  It was one thing to be so firmly entrenched in your character that you reacted as they would, but the way her body seemed to respond to Gale was something else entirely.

Gale shrugged, his megawatt smile back in full force even if Haymitch was more or less immune to his charms.  “I got carried away.”

“You’re not supposed to bring up the fiancé until the scene by the well,” Haymitch griped. “And you, Madge— you shouldn’t have encouraged him.”

Now it was Madge’s turn to shrug, her traitorous body finally under control.  “It felt right in the moment,” she argued.  “It’s a heated fight and they’re supposed to be dying to have sex, right?  So not bringing up her only counter argument feels like an obvious omission.”

“It’s a fight about justice for her father, not your goddamn libidos, and you two weren't hired to write this damn thing, just act in it,” Haymitch said and scrubbed a hand across his face.

If Gale caught the slip—  _your_  instead of  _their_ — he didn’t let on.  “Let’s do one more take our way, then we’ll do it by the book, I promise,” he soothed.  “You can decide in editing.”

Haymitch sighed again and threw his hands up, which Madge assumed meant Gale had won yet another fight.  It was infuriating, how often he did that— almost as infuriating as the fact that she was starting to suspect their chemistry wasn’t just limited to when cameras were rolling.

“Reset, everyone,” Haymitch called and Madge let a makeup artist pat some powder onto her cheek, half-dreading, half-anticipating the moment when Haymitch called  _action_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From an anon request for a Hollywood AU in honor of their birthday. Happy Birthday, nonny!


End file.
